Genealogy, local history and historical research in New England and other interesting places. Nutfield was the former land grant ................................. that is now the towns of Londonderry, Derry and Windham, New Hampshire.

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Searching the 1940 Census for Famous People? How about Rosie the Riveter?

In the 1930s, 40s, and 50s both of my grandfathers worked at the United Shoe
Machinery Corporation in Beverly, Massachusetts. One worked there until the 1960s, after 40 years there as a glazier. Three of my four great grandfathers worked at
“The Shoe”, and lots of uncles, cousins and in-laws. Even my Dad worked there as a security guard
in the 1950s when he was a college student. I expect to see some of these men listed in the 1940
census when the records are made public in April 2012. All
these relatives were men, until World War II started. Then my grandmother became a "Rosie the Riveter", and went
to work in the factory.

This was quite a new thing for Grammy, although she
had worked hard since she was 12 years old growing up in England. But it was new for women to work on the
factory floor at “The Shoe” and at many other manufacturers across New England,
and across the United States. But the
factories were re-tooled to produce war supplies, and someone had to run the
machines when all the men were called to war.

My grandmother, Bertha Louise Roberts, was born in
1897 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, and came to America in 1915 with her
family. She married my grandfather,
Donald Munroe Wilkinson, in 1926, and had three sons. My father was the baby, and when Pearl Harbor
was attacked he was seven years old. I
don’t know when Grammy began to work at “The Shoe”, but since Dad was in school
and old enough, she went to work.

In her own words:

“Because there
was a war going on and I had to go in as a matron, and I worked as a matron for
a while and then I got transferred down to the sheet metal department. I worked there on the night shift. It wasn't too easy though because I would
work from eleven to seven in the morning.
I got a ride back and forth but it wasn't too good for me health wise
and I was sick after a while. I had my
veins stripped in my legs and ... they were stripped. [a
treatment for varicose veins] And I had
to walk as soon as I could after they were stripped. So I went back to work soon after that and my
boss let me go to the tool department and do errands for him so I could walk.” [transcribed from an audio tape of Bertha Wilkinson recorded in the 1970s.]

At that time the matron was a woman working in the
factories that watched out for the welfare of the female workers, and
supervised the lady’s washrooms and dressing rooms. There was much hostility shown towards the
women who came to work in the factories, and there were no laws against sexual
harassment. Some women had never worn
pants, and changed into them only for work, never wanting to be seen on the
street in slacks.

Factory jobs for women paid more than traditional
female jobs, but still less than men on the same jobs. They took the jobs out
of patriotism, or for independence, or out of boredom while their husbands were
away. During the war there were 2 million women working in defense plants, more
than 10 percent of all women working, and millions more worked in other
traditional jobs vacated by men at war.
Less than a quarter of these women had two years experience in the
workforce. Nearly all these women were unemployed when the war ended.

I can imagine Grammy as a matron, but it is still
hard for me to believe she worked in the sheet metal shop. Although she was much younger then, I still
can’t imagine her making munitions or parts for war machinery! This is a fascinating part of her life I never
really discussed with her. Grammy passed away in 1990.

How would you know if your ancestor or family member
worked as a “Rosie” during World War II?
Since the war happened between the censuses, her occupation wouldn’t
show up there. Perhaps the factory or occupation your grandfather or great
grandfather held in the 1940 census will give you a clue? Did your grandmother take over in the family
store or family business? Did she fill
in at your grandfather’s job when he was drafted? You can try looking at tax records for extra
income earned between 1942 and 1945 by women in your family. A town history or historical society can tell you if there was a 1945 defense plant, or a factory retooled for defense supplies in your grandparents hometown found in the 1940 census. Letters, journals, and oral histories are the
best way to tell if your grandmother or great aunts worked as a “Rosie” since these
women’s names were rarely recorded anywhere else.

2 comments:

Thanks, Heather, for this great look back at anothera era. You've reminded me to check out my family work history during those war years, altho I don't think I have anyone as colorful as your Grammy in my tree.

Thanks for the lookback. This is the era when my mom and dad were growing up and my grandparents were living through the depression. Getting to know about my grandparents more is what got me interested in genealogy in the first place. They died when I was young or before I was even born.

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Author of the Nutfield Genealogy blog and occasional genealogy speaker. My family research includes Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, with a smattering of Nova Scotia. Please contact me if you see your ancestors on this blog. I would love to share information. I am the former secretary of the New Hampshire Mayflower Society, former President of the Londonderry Historical Society, member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Mass. Society of Genealogists, The National Genealogical Society, and the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists.